


Age of Destruction

by Demondogweed



Category: The Dark Crystal (1982), The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance (TV)
Genre: AU, Genocide, gelfling not being nice, podling worldview
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-27
Updated: 2020-08-27
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:29:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,369
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26145670
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Demondogweed/pseuds/Demondogweed
Summary: What If the skeksis had started draining podlings instead of gelfling.
Kudos: 9





	Age of Destruction

**Author's Note:**

> WARNING: This fic is about a people being subjected to death/slavery with the mainstream not caring. Thus, I recommend anyone not wanting to read such material to skip this.

_Drink today, for tomorrow we will die._

That had been the podling creed far before Hup's great great grandmother had been born. It was a philosophy taught to every podling child, a reminder to always prepare for the worst but never give up joy in the face of it.

Thra was unkind, Thra was cruel. Many podlings faced Death in his four-armed glowing glory before their 30th trine of birth. Such was life for a podling, but it was better this way.

A podling was the builder of their fate, a podling always had a choice no matter how harsh it was. A podling had never lifted a sword to the neck of a foe because their gods told them to. A podling never marched to the edges of the world when their Lords lifted a claw.

A podling never dared to say they were favoured by Thra.

The gelfling, gifted by Thra with wings and mystical powers, did. They revelled in their status long before Death came to Thra, bringing with it the Lords. The gelfling bowed to the Lords' will gladly.

A podling would not, a podling knew the faces of Death by heart. It wore many masks, some of Rakkida or Arduff, some of gelfling and some of Arathim. But the Lords were its favourites to wear. Where the Lords roamed, there Death was the strongest.

A podling would serve a Lord, would take their money gladly. But they would never bow to them.

Hup wanted to be a paladin, at least he had wanted to be one once. He had seen firsthand how easily the Lords would twist gelfling minds to obey them, and frankly, he hated it. Someone had to defend Thra-kind from Death, why not him who knew the truth?

Watching paladins load yet another hollow of podlings into a cage, however, dampened his dreams. The gelfling seemed disinterested, poking the group into the cage with the butts of their spears.  
"Come on now, the Lords are waiting" one paladin muttered as they locked the door.

Hup moved as carefully as he could after the cage. The gelfling weren't too bothered about leaving tracks and so Hup soon found himself in the field near the Castle of Crystal.

It was said that Death kept court in those halls, and no podling who entered its maw escaped. Hup knew some of the cooks left sometimes, but their souls were gone by then. Eaten by the Lords. They would look normal, they would drink and laugh, but it was always tinged with fear.

The carriage had stopped, most likely to offer the armaligs a break. The gelfling were very sensitive to animals, if not other people. It didn't take much for Hup to jump in the back. Clutching his spoon, he felt the carriage rattle once more to life.

The halls were dark like a burrow, lit only by things hanging from the ceiling. There was no fire and Hup could not smell smoke. Magic, he guessed, by the gelfling or the Lords. The source of the lights did not matter, in truth. It was more important to find where the podlings had been taken.

Dodging the various gelfling patrols was not easy, even when Hup joined in a group of servants to hide. The other podlings didn't seem to mind him, but the gelfling twitched their ears and wings every time they passed the group. Eyes leering like those of the Lords.

Hup had only seen one Lord, the Treasurer it had called itself. Its snarling jaws and cold eyes were no different than those of an arduff. Most podlings Hup knew said the same, it was like the gelfling had let a beast among them and thought it another gelfling.

"I don't know, Mira. Every time I see them come in, it always looks so sad" one of the guards said to another, one who only scoffed.  
"I wouldn't worry about them. Back home, they are so dirty that the order of lesser services has to clean them. Can't take care of themselves" 

Hup wanted to kick that guard in the shin, but one of the servants stopped him.  
"It won't do any good, boy. They don't understand" the old man sighed.  
"You just let them walk all over you?" Hup hissed back, trying to calm down.  
"As long as we do as the Lords say, we are safe"

Hup left the servant group at the entrance for the 'laboratory' as the servants called it. He did not want to leave them, but they assured him they would be fine. Lords rarely killed well-trained servants.

That did not make Hup feel any better, especially as he traversed deep into the tunnels. The deeper he went, the worse the smells and sounds got. At first, they were faint, some iron and some gasps. In the 'laboratory' the screams almost deafened him. Hup kept to the shadows, holding his breath as a monster took podlings from a small cage, strapping them in a chair. Maybe it was a Lord, but Hup had never seen anything with such burning eyes and slavering jaws.

It hissed and shrieked something, as it played with various tools.  
"My lord," a gelfling guard said, making the monster turn around and hiss.  
"What is it? Out with it, I have three vials to load here" it rasped, its mouth moving unnaturally. Like each word of gelfling tongue was each forced out with great effort. The guard didn't seem to mind the sight.  
"The Vapra have shipped their tithe of podlings, my Lord," they said, not an ear twitch of nervousness to be found. The monster rumbled, eyes of fire looking over its den. Hup leaned into the shadows more, feeling like the monster might just see through them to his soul.  
"Oh, wonderful, like the cages weren’t full enough!" the monster growled and waved its claws around like it was drunk on tree sap.  
"Put them with the others and inform the Chamberlain that we are full"

Hup took shallow breaths, watching it all unfold. He wanted to jump at the monster and kill it where it stood, but that would take too much time. He looked for the cages, instead. They had to be easily found if the gelfling could reach them.

Just as he left the main room, a harsh glow of purple filled the cave. Hup closed his eyes, ignoring the screams as he headed deeper in. 

It didn't take long for Hup to find the cages and the gelfling captors. Like before, they were bored and did not seem to hear the pleading prisoners. Or they did not understand. That was more likely.

They were still gelfling, not like the monsters the Lords were. Even if Hup was smaller than them, he could overpower them with cunning.  
"Hmmmmh, what is this? A podling snooping?" a creature said behind him. Hup felt the hairs of his neck stand up, it was another monster. But this one spoke podling.

There was no hiding now, he had to fight. 

Hup turned around, his spoon at ready. If he wanted to save his fellow podlings, he had to defeat this thing first.  
"Monster" Hup growled, before launching himself at the kneeling form of the monster. Even as it lifted its claws to strike, Hup got it in the eye.

The monster cried out, slamming Hup against the floor with its claws. It hurt, some of its claws piercing skin. But he still had the spoon and the monster was still shrieking. A couple of hits on its claws and it let go of him, Hup did not stall and ran.

"GUARDS! GUARDS! Podling is loose! Get it!"

Hup's heart hammered in his chest and his wounds. The monster knew podling, it -knew- what they were screaming. Yet it did not care. He had to run, he had to escape.

He couldn't save those in the cages, he'd just end up with them.

He ran, trying his best to ignore the buzzing of gelfling wings and the stomping of their boots. They could look all they wanted, they could search the whole Castle.

A podling chose their fate, no matter how grim.


End file.
